Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 60 on 15 December 2024

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU OM APYAYANTUM AMANGANIVAKPRANASYAKSHUH SHROTRAM ATHO BALAMINDRIYANICHA SARVANI SARVAM BRAHMAHU PANISHADAM MAHAM BRAHMANIRAKURIYAM MAMA BRAHMANIRAKARO ANIRAKARANAM ASTVANIRAKARANAM ME ASTU TADATMANI NIRATE YAUPANISHAD SU DHARMA TE MAI SANTU TE MAI SANTU OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI HA RE HE OM OM May my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as also strength, and all the organs become well developed. Everything is the Brahman revealed in the Upanishads. May I not deny Brahman. May not Brahman deny me. Let there be no spurning of me by Brahman. Let there be no rejection of Brahman by me. May all the virtues that are spoken of in the Upanishads repose in me. I am engaged in the pursuit of the Self. May they repose in me. OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL So we are studying the Chandogya Upanishad 7th chapter known as Bhumananda, Bhuma Vidya, the knowledge of Brahmananda or Paramananda, Atmananda, otherwise called Bhumananda. So in our last class we have seen, we have entered into the 8th khanda. What is this 8th khanda? Vijnanam, earlier khanda, 7th section. Without understanding there would be no meditation. Without meditation there would be no determination, no memory. Mind will not work, speech will not work and so expression also will not come. So step by step Sanat Kumara is taking all of us from the grossest to the subtlest. This is astonishing to say how much these Rishis have thought about life in every way, be it secular or spiritual. So the mind should be made to concentrate. Concentration can come only when there is understanding. Understanding depends upon something else. Vijnanam, what is that? Balam. And that was the subject of the 8th section and then Sanat Kumara says that all the things that Narada had mastered earlier were seen in the 1st and 2nd sections. He was practically a walking encyclopedia. But did he understand it? Did he have Vijnanam? Only now after being instructed, otherwise Sanat Kumara, he said it is nothing but information. But with this instruction, Vijnanam is absolutely necessary. Right understanding and application of that understanding to right circumstances. But that is the essence of this particular 8th chapter, Balam. What is Balam? There is a beautiful English expression, walk the talk. We are all talkers. We are not the walkers. I am not talking in the ordinary sense. All of us are walking. But aimlessly, with no concentration, with no memory, we are reading, we are eating. Just pay attention one day. Whether you are paying attention to the food all the time or the moment one handful of food has gone inside, you are judging. This is not cooked properly. But that time when I ate at that place prepared by that person, oh how tasty it was. We are eating all right, but we have slided into the past. So that is why strength is necessary. And physical, intellectual, aesthetic, moral strengths are necessary if we have to progress in spiritual life. That is what he wants to convey in this 8th section. So what is the essence of this 8th section? That is very important for us to say, Balam strength. And that is why Swami Vivekananda had emphasized on strength. Why is India such a big country? And we claim we are believers in God. We have faith in God. And God is the very embodiment of strength. But why is there no strength? Because unity is strength. And we do not have unity. Everybody has a beautiful song in Telugu. Each Gopi, even though Krishna manifested as many Gopis, that means as many minds, so many meditations upon Krishna. So each Gopi was beholding only one Krishna. She was not looking to the left or right, but she was only focused upon Krishna. On the banks of the Yamuna, every Gopi for herself is beholding Krishna and attaining union with Krishna, enjoying Krishna, becoming one with Krishna. Beautiful song. But in practical life, in spiritual life, this is the greatest strength. What is the greatest strength? To be detached, not to be affected, to be non-united with everything that is worldly. Worldly means that which is changing, that which is dependent, that which can never be relied upon, that which is severely limited. That is called world. But God means just the opposite. So we should depend upon God. We should surrender to God. Then we will become God and we become infinite. That is called Bhumananda. So Swami Vekananda thundered. He said, I have preached only Upanishads and in the Upanishads I have only preached only strength. Here is some of the sayings of Swamiji. The best guide in life is strength. Discard everything that weakens you. You have nothing to do with it. And Swamiji means, I will be inserting my understanding now and then. So even if a person believes, claims that he believes in God, but he is becoming weak, is becoming unhealthy, is becoming unwise, is becoming or more suffering, less happy. That is nothing to do with God. Why? Many times I mentioned God represents three qualities of life. Sat, Chit and Ananda. Sat means unity. Sat means health. Sat means truthfulness. Sat means all that makes for goodness in life. Chit means wisdom, not knowledge. What is the difference? If it is mere information, that is called knowledge. But discriminating the valuable knowledge and discarding what is not useful and using it only for our good, not only present good, but the future good also, learning the lessons from the past, that is called wisdom. And Ananda, just as when we approach blazing fire in winter season especially, the nearer we approach, the more the cold becomes less and the heat becomes more and more enjoyable. But when we come very near to the fire and become one with fire, we become fire, we can also give the same effect like the fire to others. So what is spiritual progress? Approaching nearer to God. That means we become more Sat or we manifest more the aspect of Sat, Satyam, Chit, Wisdom, Ananda, Happiness. If these three are lacking and still a person is claiming, professing that I am progressing in spiritual life, well, we have to think twice. Where have we gone wrong? This is what Swamiji means. Anything that weakens has nothing to do with life. Be strong. The sign of life is strength and growth and the sign of death is weakness. Swamiji equates strength with life, weakness with death. Brave, bold men, these are what we want. What we want is vigor in the blood, strength in the nerves, iron muscles, nerves of steel, not softening namby-pamby ideas. Doing good to others is virtue. Injuring others is sin. So strength and manliness is virtue. Weakness and cowardice is sin. Independence is virtue. Dependence is vice, the opposite. Loving others is virtue. Hating others is sin. Faith in God and in one's own self is virtue. Doubt is sin. Knowledge of oneness is virtue. Seeing diversity is sin. Feel like Christ and you will be Christ. Feel like Buddha and you will be Buddha. It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the vitality without which no amount of intellectual activity can reach God. God is not never to be reached by the weak. You have infinite strength within you. Manifestation of divinity means manifestation of the strength and there is a beautiful saying in the all Upanishads, especially Mundaka Upanishad. The self cannot be realized by anyone who is without strength. But when a man of knowledge strives by the prescribed means, then his self enters into Brahman, the abiding place of peace and happiness. If there is no strength in body and mind, Atman can never be realized. First, we have to build the body by good nutritious food. Then only will the mind be strong. Infinite strength is religion and God. Now, let us study history. How much did India suffer? That perhaps is not correct statement. We are suffering even today. Any Tom, Dick and Harry, very small countries are mocking at our government, mocking at India, mocking at us. So, why? Any country which chooses to kick India, they are able to stir trouble. Why? Because of weakness. So, this is what Sanat Kumara really means. He who contemplates strength as Brahman. God means Brahman. How much strength we see in the true believers of God? Like Prahlada, for example. He was never afraid of death. Nachiketa was not afraid of death. Because Shraddha avivesha. Shraddha possessed him, not entered, possessed. What we possess, we call it belief. But when the same faith possesses us, and faith is the weakest translation of the word Shraddha. When Shraddha controls us, we will reach God in no time. So, is there something greater than strength? As usual, asked Narada. As usual means what? That means he had practiced this Balam. He understood it and he obtained strength. And so he is asking, is there something which is superior to strength? Without which strength cannot be attained? That means strength is the effect. So, please explain to me what is the cause of strength? Of course, as usual, Sanat Kumara. We will get 15 steps here. So, we are in the eighth step, so to say. So, yes, there is. So, with this background, let us study this eighth section called Bala Brahma Upasana. And once we have understood this long introduction, both yesterday's and today's, then it is a breeze to go through the mantras. This is how it goes. This is the original mantras. This is the plain English translation. Strength surely is greater than understanding. A single man with strength causes even a hundred men with understanding to tremble. When a man becomes strong, then he rises. Rising, he serves. Serving the, serves means serves the Guru. Serving the Guru, he approaches nearer. Approaching nearer, he sees, he hears, he reflects, he understands, he acts and he realizes. By strength indeed, the earth stands. By strength, the sky stands. By strength, the heaven stands. By strength, the mountains stand. By strength, gods and men stand. By strength, cattle and birds, grasses and trees, bees down to worms, flying insects and ants stand. By strength, the whole world stands. So, Konarada perceived the strength. We will quickly go through this because the introduction should have clarified most of the points. So, in answer to the question, is there higher than Vijnana? Then Sanat Kumara, the Guru answers, Balam Vava Vijnanaat Bhuyaha Apihi. So, Balam, strength. Vijnanaat Bhuyaha. It is the root cause, much superior, much subtler, the much pervasive, the cause of Vijnana. What is Vijnana? Right understanding of the scriptures. Because even to have worldly happiness, which is called praise, we require scriptural understanding. This world can never give us that wisdom which makes us happier, healthier, etc. Because how many doctors are advising that you eat this healthy food, you do this healthy exercise and try to not worry about too much, take right decisions. Nowadays, psychologists, scientists and nutritionists, everybody is chipping in, as they say, to give us right advice. What they say is absolutely right. But how many people follow because they are overcome by instantaneous gratifications. They don't have strength and that strength has to be developed. So, there was a famous quotation which I quoted earlier. So, when this Englishman was asked in American airport or ship port, whatever, that do you have anything to declare? He said, I have nothing to declare, excepting my brains. And then his famous quotation was, I can withstand everything, excepting temptation. So, if a person cannot stand temptation, what else is there? This is what Sanat Kumara is trying to give through some illustrations. Having stated, this is called Sutra Vakya, aphoristic statement of the essence of this entire eighth section, Balam, strength. Indeed, Vijnanaat Bhuyaha, if the cause is subtler, more pervasive, without strength, no one can understand properly. Understand means in the right sense, not information. And then he gives examples. So, he says very beautifully, supposing there are 100 pandits, they know many things, but they have no strength. But there is one person who is not a knowledgeable person, he is a gunda, ekaha, only one. The moment he stands and lifts or even glares at it, all these shatam, jnanavatam, akampayate, he makes them tremble because they do not have the strength like Prahlada, like Shri Ramakrishna, like Swami Sharadananda. I think it is appropriate to quote Swami Sharadananda. Once he was travelling with another devotee called Vaikunthanath Sanyal on Ganges in a boat and in the mid east of the Ganga, a terrible storm arose and the boat was swinging up and down so horribly that this devotee thought that death is the next step. Just at that time, Swami Sharadananda took out his hubble bubble, lit it and calm and quietly started smoking and the devotee's ire got terrible. He snatched it from the Swami and threw it. His logic was we are about to die and this man is enjoying. I am not enjoying. What right this person has got to enjoy? A devotee only can do that. Anyway, somehow nothing happened because the Calcutta boatsmen are experts in countermanding. They experienced it hundreds of times. Whenever this eptide comes, that is what happens like a big tsunami. Anyway, they reached safely and the devotee became very contrite and he apologized and said, Maharaj, but why are you trying to smoke at that time knowing fully well that we are about to die? Swami smiled and said, I accepted the fact that anyway we are going to die. Why should I unnecessarily? I have got this hubble bubble. Let me what is called squeeze the last bit of happiness from it. So, I was doing but you fellow you could you didn't understand my motive and then you threw it away. You deprived me of this one, but I don't care because we are alive now. I can smoke. This is my commentary, but supposing the boat really capsized, then perhaps they would have many of them would have died and then Swami Saradaranda will become a ghost and possess this devotee Vaikuntha Sanyal and squeeze him whole life because you deprived me of that last happiness. I am just joking. What is the point here? Point is one strong man mentally strong. I have seen people physically they are not that strong, but such a tremendous strength is exuding from their bodies from their personalities hundred even thousand people they quake before him. This is a beautiful example and Sairam Krishna in answer to the question or is Shakti different in many people then in one occasion he says one strong man can make 10 people run away such surely there is a difference of strength in different people this strength whether it is a music singing literature science everywhere this is the difference between man one man and another man is this difference between this strength and then sanath kumara brings another aspect we who claim to be spiritual aspirants we are so easily pleased when somebody praises us especially a swami that you are a marvelous devotee that is the worst certificate anybody can give worst harm anybody can do to devotees that is why if a swami goes on criticizing he will not be appreciated he will have very few devotees but if somebody says who says a person who is not interested in the welfare of the devotees but only their downfall he will go on praising is a selfish person he goes on expecting something from them it could be even admiration if not anything else so this we are fools not to be able to understand and that understanding we have discussed in our last section that is called vignanam so even so much of information is there but strength is necessary so here how does a person become enlightened person if a person if a disciple a spiritual aspirant possessed of tremendous faith faith means strength if he is possessed of strength in the form of faith so he also obeys the teacher and then what does he do only when a person is really strong what happens when he becomes strong is able to get up even to get up just see in our old age most often we suffer from romantic problems and even sitting up getting up walking becomes a terrible chore so when a person is strong immediately jumps up the guru looks at the disciple immediately jumps up like hanuman he understands i gave the example of padmapada yesterday the moment the first class disciple that is called he is always analyzing what does my guru need he becomes serviceful and then he will please the guru so approaching him he will be endowed with that wisdom and then upasatta means what he is able to come closer as if he is strengthened by the wisdom of the guru upa means near sattva means become strong in the presence of the guru upasita having been able to approach how because what does he become yesterday i told you is a quotation from a part of it this is quotation from and that is what is reflected here in slightly different words having approached the guru and what is the guru doing he will give the what is called the realization when a disciple is pure the guru instantaneously he can give that knowledge transmit that knowledge that is why there are three types of disciples and three types of initiation mantra initiation is the grossest and just looking at somebody or touching somebody sparsha deeksha that is the second highest but the guru is somewhere disciple is somewhere guru intends to pass his knowledge the disciple intends to receive it so much a physical distance could be there and that transmission takes place without any interruption that is the highest type initiation in the tantric lore or literature so what does he become immediately he understands bhagwan god exists and he's absolutely certain hundred percent by the grace of the guru and as if he beholds the teacher the god through the teacher and that's what swami brahmanandaji tells in one place what what can not a guru do so when the disciple is proper and ready the guru takes him to the ishta and says there behold your ishta devata chosen deity and what does the guru do he merges in god that means god only manifested in the form of the guru and he takes him to himself and he gives that instantaneous realization and his job is finished so he merges back into the from where he came it is all god only so this is what is being expressed here so what what does he become prashta bhavati he becomes as if realized then of course there are certain steps three steps we know shravana manana shrota bhavati he becomes absolutely one-pointed receiver that is called shrota then having received he uses all his powers of his mind to get rid of whatever lingering doubts are there and becomes absolutely certain having become certain then he meditates nididhyasana and then bodha bhavati he becomes awakened person then he becomes what does he become with that knowledge whatever actions he do he is he becomes a doer what does it mean not like us karta means what the disciple has received the grace of god he says it is only god narayana shiva devi who is really doing all these things and thereby he becomes vignata he becomes a realized soul therefore oh narada if you are not strong you are not going to realize and then sanath kumara gives some beautiful examples and these three prithvi is earth if the prithvi shakes a little for whatever reason which we call earthquake everything gets destroyed how many people can really are crushed dead just a little bit of shaking so it is on the scale of what they call eight nine ten and perhaps it will come the way we are living our life the our mother earth cannot stand the type of life we are living then a little bit of shaking how strong even the space but by proxy it means higher worlds not only this bhu loka bhuvan loka suvar loka etc so prithvi bhu loka antariksham so higher lokas like swarga loka etc and balena dev means highest loka so we have discussed it when we were talking in the taitriya upanishad what is called vyavruti upasanas i think it was in the fifth section so this is what is repeating this chandogya upanishad then balena parvata look at a mountain if it shakes a little if a small stone falls from there there what is called landslide or whatever how many buses how many people and if one what is called uh you know no one then there is a terrible fire comes out of the earth what happens the liquid fire flows everywhere and that is called volcanoes how many countries become completely charred destroyed for a long time it will not be possible to do anything there so one volcano can destroy countries one earthquake can do that if something happens a what is called like everest or one small bit of mountain breaks off and falls how much damage they can do but how strong they are that is why they are devatas as i mentioned these are not in hindu according to hindu vedantic view they are not what is called inert things but they are all devatas in the puranas it is there earlier the mountains used to fly and suddenly they land on some village a whole village will be piped off so prayers went to indra so indra took out his vajra yudha and cut off the wings of the so since that time is is a legend but what it means is that they are all manifestations of god everything living non-living with consciousness without consciousness so among gods also there are differences there is indra he is the lord of the devas how did he become balena because of the strength so others like agni vayu etc they became also gods but subsidiary to indra so whose strength is more indra strength is more among men not to speak the strongest people strongest individual strongest company strongest organization strongest government everything depends upon strength strength strength not only that look at the animals birds i'll just give you this example then we can apply to others so are all animals the same is a lion and a deer or the buffaloes even buffalo is very strong wild buffalo but lions kill cleverly and eat so every creature every animal fears a lion lioness why because they're very strong and even among the lions when the time mating time comes there is a terrible fight one must see how much of roaring is going on how much to death are practically unto death then only the strongest animal among all animals it gets the right to mate this is nature's commandment only then the offspring will be also strong so balena deva manushya balena pashavasya so whichever species you take even among mosquitoes so there is always fight which male is going to and there is a queen among all the insects also applied what is the makes it strength so among trees which tree survives only a strong tree which grass survives only a strong grass swapadani so all the what is called walking or animals then akita that is insects patanga birds pipelikam ants etc etc etc balena whichever whichever is strong he will get more facilities more happiness more power more freedom and the end is if we want to progress spiritually also or enjoy the world also that is why there is a beautiful sanskrit so veerya veera bhogya vasundhara this earth yields only its happiness to heroes not to be heroes so therefore onarada palam upasvaiti strength surely is greater than understanding and then narada understands so so he asks then sanath kumara also advises what what do i get as i mentioned we have to apply this for 15 times there are two types of people who do this contemplation with the desire for worldly enjoyments that is called prayo and then those who want only spiritual progress so if he is a priya kanshi he wants to enjoy a little bit but sooner or later he will also turn to spiritual life but temporarily he might want to go to higher lokas higher heavens places of higher happiness longer happiness qualitative happiness etc in acquiring strength what is brahma i am brahma i am strong so anybody who says i am a very strong person without the least bit of life doubt that is what swamiji says self-confidence that is called brahma complete self-confidence swamiji himself is the greatest example saram krishna is an example holy mother is a very saint and every hero every leader is an example so i give the example you know the any citizen of any country has a freedom of course in democratic countries to become the president either the president or the prime minister but how many people really have that self-confidence if i stand for the election i can also get most people have tremendous faith in themselves that i will not get even they deposit money back and that is why they won't even try a few people try but then they may everybody will not get like olympic title only one person will get it so this is what we have to understand so as usual we have to understand we don't need to go into details so this person who feels and they i am god himself in strength so wherever is the strength functions he will be the master he will be the leader he will have complete freedom nobody can restrain that freedom from him so you contemplate strength as brahman narada must have done that as usual and then he says is there something superior to sure there is something which causes strength strength doesn't fall from the sky it has to be cultivated and what is the way to cultivate it there is something by doing which we can become strong lord if there is something superior please instruct me in it and that is how we are getting into the what what is called the next section what is this is the ninth section what is the ninth section so sanath kumara says what is the cause of strength annam means food you know what swami vikaranda had said first you are slaves born slaves because of your weakness and weakness doesn't mean only physical weakness every indian is physically very weak look at their voices very few people have got that strong voice even singing they cannot sing i have come across people who are extraordinarily great singers but they cannot sustain their bodies are very weak minds are okay but they cannot sustain because lung power should be there and part of this strength is only this lung power and it comes from where annam means food food means what anything that strengthens is called food we should not drag the meaning of the word annam to pure physical material so somebody is in distress and somebody comes and says you are as good as me and the fellow gets up when swami vikaranda used to chant remarking whenever swamiji speaks even a corpse wants to immediately comes back to life let me hear afterwards go back because it is so strengthening it is so enlivening it is so inspiring it is so much bringing happiness that is and then to re-enter when i hear your words i feel like becoming a corpse because i am paraphrasing it not exactly in the same words so this is the ninth section sanath kumara is slowly taking and then he gives it is not that difficult for us to understand this particular and some of the subsequent chapters because we have seen this go on contemplating brahman as the cause of this as the cause of that one as the cause of the other one etc so here annam vava bala goya ha annam is the greater stronger subtler more pervasive than what strength because if there is no anna there would be no strength at all this is what swami vikaranda in his talks on his bhakti yoga he quotes from sri ramanuja just like there are four qualifications required to become an adhikari in the path of nana marga what are they sadhana chaturstaya sampatthi viveka vairagya and then samadhamadi shatka sampatthi and mumukshutva all total there are nine qualities where to spiritual qualities we have to develop and i would add not only they are not only for spiritual progress you want to become prosper in business you want to become a great scientist you want to become a better cook you want to become a better singer speaker writer anything all the four qualities are necessary i just explained because such an interesting concept so mumukshutvam is in the context of spiritual perfection i want to be free and that word freedom can be used by us let us take the example of i want to become a good singer so what is that singer or speaker or whatever it is whatever it what is the conditions imposed the first condition is i must have no other goal accepting one goal this is what they call so the bucket kick the bucket they say you know so this bucket means what all my desires if we look into any one of our buckets there will be 500 desires and 1 to 499 will be a very worldly desire the last one is let me realize god that will not do so with then what should it be first of all i want god then i want 499 or no there will be only one desire in that bucket that is only one desire i don't want anything else like nachiketa strongly instantaneously overcomes the tests that were set by yama dharma raja i don't want anything i want only the knowledge about atman atma jnanam i want to know how i can be when nachiketa asked yama dharma raja show me the way to immortality he's not saying what is on the other side of the murthyu what is on the other side of the murthyu immortality beyond mortality is immortality nachiketa is not going to death very very interesting analysis death if death is real death himself must have died long back nachiketa approaching death means what when he goes there oh yama dharma raja is he alive is he subjected to death not at all because if he's subject to death like any one of us he would not have been yama dharma raja he would have been like any one of our jivas but he was a knower of brahman brahma jnani greatest brahma jnani and nachiketa knew it so his question was not whether there is something beyond this mortality no i know there is because i have studied the scriptures i understood it i have faith in it i have i'm approaching you not asking whether there is immortality but how to reach that immortality and for that the symbolism is i must die to everything that is mortal then only i can attain immortality that is the meaning of sanyasa i must give up everything excepting god complete surrender to god that is called sanyasa samyak nyasa sanyasa so that that desire if it is there i don't want anything then he must have that discrimination what can lead me to what i desire and anything that comes in the way mercilessly i have to detach myself destroy it that is called vairagya and in order to do that i will i must have six qualities what is that mental mind control body control then keeping the mind equanimous then having the ability to withdraw the mind from whatever alien thought is coming other than god and intense faith shraddha guru shastra and finally that ability to have put into practice what i know so uparati titiksha bearing everything because certain things in this physical world cannot be avoided it could be hot it could be cold people may be criticizing people may be praising among these two people those who praise and those who criticize the greatest enemies are those who praise but fools that we are we fall for it every time because in our both ears madhu and kaitaba an intense slavery to be praised to be recognized to be valued and an intense dislike even the slightest criticism i can keep that person as a lifelong enemy even though that person wants for our good only including the guru so this is just i am going on and on so nachiketa he knew it so like that sam vivekananda says viveka what is the first quality viveka viveka etc there are seven qualities are there which we will talk on some other occasion but viveka means according to the ramanuja discrimination about food swami vekananda very intelligently said no whatever goes inside whatever we eat that is reading newspaper listening to gossip and whatever worldly things we are swallowing day and night whatever goes that is called food that's why i told you earlier annam means not merely physical food annam means whatever sustains us so this right annam for the body and at right time in right quantities sattvika food in right quantities at the right time and in the right place in the right way means of referring to god as the sacred sanctified prasadam all these things have to be taken same thing we have to extend to whatever sustains us in our quest that is called annam so if some book is making me inspired that book is my food if some person is inspiring me that person is my food if some event is inspiring me and it could be a negative event so after some experience i thought i can trust this person i loved this person but they turned out to be treacherous persons and what is the lesson i learned don't trust anybody there is only one trustworthy person god and his saints and nobody else that is how whole life we have to learn our lessons we have to keep our mind open and that keeping the mind open requires tremendous amount of balam and then sanath kumara gives examples and this example we have seen earlier also in the sixth chapter so there the guru tells shweta ketu you fast for 15 days and then chant vedas he could not memory is gone because there is no strength eat for 15 days and immediately he could chant so this is what it says if somebody doesn't eat for 10 nights here he has become a little more generous he may be alive but after 10 days of not eating he can't see the right thing he can't understand what he's hearing he cannot think properly he cannot become awakened he cannot perform any duties he cannot understand what is right and wrong he becomes that but same person when he obtains food the opposite happens bhavati he obtains everything god realization spiritual progress therefore contemplate this is the essence and which we will talk some more few details in our next class may Ramakrishna holy mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti Jai Ramakrishna